Att the wedding reception last night, I sat with another U of M Law School alumni. We attorneys must have an invisible aura that subconsciously identifies us to each other. It’s weird.
I was channel-surfing last night and caught some of Def Poetry. Poetry slams have always struck me as emphasizing style over substance. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; I enjoyed most of the performances I saw. They had a visceral punch that is an order of magnitude different from the experience of reading a poem to yourself. The hip-hop influence on slam culture was also evident. Most of the performances shared a theme of oppression and injustice. Didn’t see any performers with disabilities, though. Maybe after I finish the book, I’ll try my hand at a slam and wow the crowd with my mad, ventilator-syncopated verse.
The LA Times has an article about the hardships faced by Iraqi war veterans who are being shipped home with severe disabilities. Like I keep saying, this is the real story of the war’s ongoing casualty count. Thousands of newly disabled men and women who are taxing the resources of an already underfunded Veterans Administration. At the same time, these disabled veterans may be able to muster the political clout to spur advances in assistive technology that would benefit other people with disabilities as well. Some good has to come out of this whole mess.
CNN is doing a documentary on the SETI project tonight. I am, of course, TiVo’ing it. I hope it’s not condescending: “Watch the funny scientists search for little green men.”
